A sympathetic good Samaritan risked his life and limb to save a despondent woman who attempted suicide by jumping from an elevated platform above a subway.
The drama unfolded around 3:30 p.m at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station in Manhattan’s East Village on Monday.
Witness Michal Klein, 38, had just gotten off the D train when she saw a woman climb onto beams 20 feet above the platform. As she watched, a young man climbed up after the woman and followed her across the beams.
“My first thought was: How did they get up there? I thought they were just goofing off,” Klein told CBS New York.
“I couldn’t really tell if they were laughing or if one person was crying,” she said.
Klein asked a woman who was part of a group of onlookers. “She told me the girl had climbed over the railing, and went across the beam, and she said suicidal things,” she said.
Klein took a photo of the young man embracing the woman and uploaded the photo to her Facebook with an explanation. The police eventually arrived and escorted the woman to an ambulance.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done. I don’t think I would’ve climbed over to do that,” Klein said.
“He actually cared enough, whoever he was, to help her. A lot of people seemed to be like ‘Oh, it’s New York’, and kept walking.”
Klein added in her Facebook post: “I hope she gets help she needs. And bravo to the young man for risking his own safety to help. Sending prayers.”
